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June 3, 2008


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NEWS

McKenzie BPW Club Disbands After 58 Years of Service

Current BPW members are, front row left to right: Shirley Martin, Ruth Morris, Carolyn Potts, Sandy McMahen, President Kathy Sacks; back row: Terry Hardy, Kathy Hull, Carolyn Burke, Donna Ward, Nicole Kaklis (holding Isabella Kaklis), and Dawn Duke (holding Taylor Duke).

After more than 58 years of service to McKenzie and Carroll County, the McKenzie Business and Professional Women's club has disbanded. Following much discussion, the members of the McKenzie BPW voted at the April meeting to discontinue the local organization.

Chartered January 19, 1950, the McKenzie BPW was instrumental in the success of the McKenzie Memorial Library, supporting the library over the years with various fundraisers to help with repairs, supplying books, supporting events such as the reading program and McKenzie Hometown Christmas. The BPW has also provided thousands of dollars to individuals in the community through scholarships over the years.

“It was with great sadness that this decision was made, but unfortunately with our membership declining we could not avoid the inevitable,” said President Kathy Sacks.

Charter members of the club and their professions were: Annie Lee Smith, service representative, Southern Bell; Martha Stoker, bookkeeper, Lovelace Farmer; Louise Bass, librarian, Bethel College; Ethel Finch, advertising manager, McKenzie Banner; Sara Finley, owner, Dottie’s Beauty Shoppe; Mildred Weaver, secretary, Bethel College; Bessie Phillips, manager, Phillips Style Shop; Sarah Cunningham, Board of Christian Education; Jane Adams, clerical, Milan Arsenal; Martha Stobbe, instructor, Bethel College; Alma Holland, office, Holland Farms; Elizabeth Hatchett, music teacher; Mary Holland, office, Holland Farms, Betty Simmons, nurse, Dr. E.E. Edwards; Carolyn Blades, student, Bethel College; Betty Lou Penick, bookkeeper, McCadams Implement Company; Ruth Brashear, elementary school teacher; Lockie Vick, bookkeeper, Domestic Eggs; Lillian Trevathan, bookkeeper, Standard Auto; Carrie Berryhill, bookkeeper, Moore Tire Service; Mary E. Waddle, registrar, Bethel College; Elizabeth Galloway, postal clerk; Ann Eagle, operator, Southern Bell T & T; Evelyn Merrick, secretary, Southern Star Lumber Company; Ruth Morris, cashier, McKenzie Bank; Rebecca Herron, owner, Herron’s Flower Shop; Madeline Boaz, saleslady, Phillips Style Shop; Ruth Leach, chief operator, Southern Bell T & T; Ophelia Everett, student, Bethel College; Martha McCaleb, bookkeeper, Tri-County Stockyards; Bertha Blackburn, bookkeeper, Ward Chevrolet; and Mary Nelle Steele, medical technician, Dr. E.M. Priest; Alice Abernathy, bookkeeper, Abernathy’s Hardware; Mildred Childers, owner, Sue’s Beauty Shoppe; Mary Collier, office manager, State Employment Service; Mary Holmes, office manager, Dr. J.T. Holmes; Lena Hudson, secretary, Board of Christian Education; Wanda Johnson, clerk, Williams Variety Store; Edna Motheral, clerk, Covington’s Drug Store; and Polly Newton, assistant city clerk, McKenzie City Hall.

At the close of the meeting on May 29, 2008, the remaining members of the McKenzie BPW were: Ruth Morris, Carolyn Potts, Sandra McMahen, Carolyn Burke, Nicole Kaklis, Shirley Martin, Donna Ward, Kathy Sacks, Dawn Sacks Duke, Terry Hardy and Kathy Hull.

Ruth Morris was the only remaining active charter member of the club. The 11 members represent more than 315 years of service to the community.

From the beginning, the McKenzie club took seriously its role in advancing societal causes while promoting the interests of working women.

Also a constant over the years was the stated objectives of the club: (1) to elevate the standards of women in business and in the professions, (2) to promote the interest of business and professional women, (3) to bring about a spirit of cooperation among business and professional women of the United States, and (4) to extend opportunities to business and professional women through education along the lines of industrial, scientific, and vocational activities.

Over the years, the club’s “collect” – a short prayer – remains as fresh and constant as it was when it was written in 1904 by Mary Stewart, one of the first members of the National Federation of the BPW, and established in 1919. Used by many women’s clubs across the country, “The Collect” sets the standard for women who, bonded together in a common cause, can concentrate their energies toward attaining goals common to women and to humanity in general:

The Collect

Keep us. O God, from pettiness; let us be large in thought, in word, in deed.
Let us be done with faultfinding and leave off self-seeking.
May we put away all pretense and meet each other face to face—without self-pity and without prejudice.
May we never be hasty in judgment and always generous.
Let us take time for all things; make us to grow calm, serene, gentle.
Teach us to put into action our better impulses, straightforward and unafraid.
Grant that we may realize it is the little things that create differences; that in the big things of life we are as one.
And may we strive to touch and to know the great common human heart of us all, and Oh, Lord God, let us forget not to be kind!

-by Mary Stewart, 1904

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June 3, 2008